In November, Warner Home Entertainment will bring both versions of the film noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice to Blu-ray - the 1946 original and the 1981 remake. These adaptations of James M. Cain's influential crime novel focus on how the torrid affair between a drifter and a restaurant owner's amoral wife leads to psychological rot and murder.
For that picture, director Bob Rafelson (Five Easy Pieces) and screenwriter David Mamet (The Untouchables) infused the story with graphic scenes of sexuality in order to more strongly convey the unstable passion motivating its antiheroes - here played by Jack Nicholson (The Departed) and Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) - to such desperate criminal activities.
The supplementary and technical specifications for the individual Blu-rays are still unknown.
Both versions of The Postman Always Rings Twice street on November 13th.
Note: Despite the image of Jack Nicholson on the first of the two following clips, that clip plays the trailer for the 1946 version.
The 1981 version was overhyped for it's "graphic scenes of sexuality" which, even by 1981 standards, wasn't that big a deal. Body Heat, a much better movie that was also released in '81, kicked TPART butt in that area.
Two very over hyped movies that both completely miss the mark on what makes the novel interesting... Cain, like Hemingway, seems to inspire filmmakers to make bad movies of compellingly written novels... The Lana Turner version is laughable...
Not ones I will prchase, but am glad Warner is releasing both versions, and on the same date. They should do a deluxe edition containing both versions together.
The original is fantastic Noir at it's best. Haven't seen the 1981 version. Will pick up both for sure. Thank you again Warner for outdoing every other studio. Thank you for caring about your catalog and your classic film fans!
It's terrific that Warner is releasing on blu both versions of The Postman Always Rings Twice at the same time. I'll buy them both simultaneously. I loved the original version, but the newer one is an intriguing blind buy.
